The world’s libraries. Connected. Session 2: Let's get chatting - chat basics, using scripts, using policy pages. Tuesday 2 nd December 2014

The world’s libraries. Connected. Session 1. December 1st Introduction to Enquire, what it is, local service, SCL Universal Offers and more. Session 2. December 2nd Let's get chatting - chat basics, using scripts, using policy pages Session 3. December 3rd Offline worlflow - answering offline questions, referring to colleagues Session 4. December 8th /7 Reference Cooperative and staffing the 24/7 Reference Cooperative Queue Session 5. December 9th Administrator training - new user accounts, running and interpreting reports, institution level information Session 6. December 10th Creating local services - Qwidget or full form, adhoc or permanent and the form

The world’s libraries. Connected. Glossary of useful terminology QuestionPoint – this is the software that underpins the Enquire service Enquire – is the subscription service of 58 library authorities in England and Scotland participating in collaborative virtual reference Chat – online, real time Q&A sessions Offline – a chat session to be answered more comprehensively by later, or referred by our UK and US partners locally OCLC’s 24/7 Reference Cooperative - U.S libraries who cover Enquire when UK staff are not online Local Services – these are configurable services over an above the Enquire stream, so use locally however you wish

The world’s libraries. Connected. A little bit about etiquette

The world’s libraries. Connected. Chat Etiquette Keep patrons informed Be aware of chat abbreviations – does your patron know what you are communicating? If you require more time to find the answer tell the user politely and send a follow up as soon as possible with the answer. Keep your promises. Close each session politely QuestionPoint has good reference interview guidelines in the Policies ( ) and Best Practices ( )

The world’s libraries. Connected. Good Service In, Good Service Out The tone of the response; i.e. level of formality or personalisation, tell me about yourself, take charge Depth of response; i.e. how much of a 'reference interview' to be conducted; short or long answers; how much help to be given when questions outside the scope How much time to be given to a transaction / setting expectations Method for evaluating responses, by users and reference co-ordinators Create loyalty out of failure – ‘signposting’ Customers are the arbiter of quality, we need to keep them not lose them – ensure we establish credibility for Enquire, our local authorities and public libraries.

The world’s libraries. Connected. Staffing Enquire: things to do at the start of your shift

The world’s libraries. Connected. Things to remember when starting your chat shift 1.Remember to configure (or at least check) the settings before each shift 2. Look to see who your shift partners are – they are the only ones that count. You can access the rota from the Enquire Staff URL:

The world’s libraries. Connected. 1. Next check your pc settings. If you forget to do this before launching chat, don’t worry you can do this when you are in chat. This is a one time change unless your machine is upgraded/changed.

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2. Check your shift partners:

The world’s libraries. Connected Shows date and time the rota was last updated 2.2. Shows which authorities you are on duty with

The world’s libraries. Connected. Logging into QuestionPoint:

The world’s libraries. Connected. Enter your User ID Your password will initially be the first 20 characters of your address – just keep typing until the cursor stops – all addresses are case sensitive, all of yours will be in lower case

The world’s libraries. Connected. Personal settings: / timeout – 1 off setting change

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The world’s libraries. Connected. Things to remember when conducting a virtual reference session: Never forget the reference interview – the same principles that apply to physical, or telephone reference still apply here – always try to ascertain the level, where they have been before and what they want it for. Be confident to multitask – you’ll need to be able to cope with opening multiple internet sessions to find information. Have a positive service attitude and willingness to help If you want time to think about it take it offline Use the Policy Pages. Inappropriate questions – there is a script Stay calm and have fun!

The world’s libraries. Connected. Question and Transcript examples

The world’s libraries. Connected. Examples of questions asked on Enquire Can I have the contact details for the chaplaincy training centre for the army? Please What are some street addresses in London, especially in Bloomsbury, where Virginia Woolf lived? response please I need to find at least ten (fiction) books written about World War I for a A level English literature student. I've got a few but could you suggest some more please. i want to come and borrow a book that teaches me how to work with spreadsheets and or excel. this is to find out if you have any books that can teach me. thank you I'm writing a novel and am researching a character: a man who works as a civil servant in the colonial office in London in the 1950s.... Any ideas where I can a) find out about who worked at the col. office/in what capacity/their backgrounds or b) general fiction or non-fiction that might help me get inside this character's head? I've already read some Graham Greene. As an American woman, I'm finding this character particularly tricky!

The world’s libraries. Connected. Let’s get chatting An overview of both the patron and the librarian

The world’s libraries. Connected. Patron/Customer Access: To get a better feel for how you can help the customer, be a patron: Know your way around the patron’s form Know how pages are displayed Look at the difference ‘preferences’ that are available in a session for different formatting

The world’s libraries. Connected. Patron/Customer Access via the link on your library pages

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Librarian access

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What are all these queues 1-3 queues: staff are monitoring only their local service and will not see Enquire questions 9 queues: staff are monitoring Enquire, it is very important you select both queues 40+ queues: staff are on duty monitoring Enquire and the 24/7 Reference cooperative 80+ queues: these are OCLC Backup staff that are the last resort for pick up. We should pick up questions as timely as possible and not rely on the Backup staff, as they are monitoring many other queues too.

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Lets Chat….

The world’s libraries. Connected. Your toolbox – Info: about the patron Scripts: pre written information for speed Notes: librarian only notes Policies: policy pages for the library You type here The transcript, librarian and patron conversation appears here Where the patron has come from

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Instant Messaging: sending

The world’s libraries. Connected. Instant Messaging: receiving

The world’s libraries. Connected. Closing your Chat Session

The world’s libraries. Connected. Quality

The world’s libraries. Connected. Quality assessments:

The world’s libraries. Connected. In the question –Refer To– box pick as follows and type in a comprehensive assessment

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Survey comment

The world’s libraries. Connected. Prompt pick up Good greeting Clear information Showing the customer how to use the database (in this instance Ancestry): if you search 1851 Census for example. The search box "Lived in" should be completed using Doncaster as a place name and the name of the street should be used in the keyword search box- maybe even using deaf or dumb as keywords might help. Clarification This search has listed pupils at St John's Institution for the deaf and dumb in Clifford,Boston Yorkshire in Is this the right one? Advised address was received Referred to local library and followed up Bread and butter reference The session encompasses libraries helping customers to access digital information and access information (SCL Information and Digtial Offers). The session was informative, but set the user at ease with the tone. What’s so good about the session?

The world’s libraries. Connected. Where to go for help – help guides, hints and tips will be added to our new webpageshttp://oclc.org/support/services/enquire.en.html PN List – not many use for this, but it can be. If you are not on the listserv, let us know and we can add you. Support Tel: